The harsh, flaring sun high in the pale blue sky seemed to blister and shine in pride at the abysmal heat of a summer's midday on the desert planet Savareen. Among the dusty streets where various buildings bustling like spires in a Genosian hive. There was no space unused in the prospering town. Any alley between buildings was filled in with shanties and if it was too small for that than a sty or pen took its place. Any area where the crowds in the streets did not occupy had a barrel of the legendary Brandy of the planet or some other crate or box.

Among it all, wrapped in a nomad's garb of brown cloaks and airy clothing was a Twi'lek woman shuffling her way through the crowd. The hood on her cloak was pulled up and hung so that the harsh sun's rays cast a shadow around her head; after all, being a lone Twi'lek in an area like this was always Tedious. She kept her head down and eyes focused on the feet in the crowd to judge the distance and speed of those around her and plan the perfect time to slip between someone and dip into another small groove in the steady stream. In this way, the small, slim girl easily weaved through every nook and cranny with fluid motions and made great haste to her destination at one of the many Cantinas on the side of the road.

Her reprieve from the sun's radiants found her in a grimy room filled with smoggy air. The stagnant air, while cooled by the underground level of the building, was filled with a cocktail of repugnant smells. She could practically taste the spice in the room as she walked down the front stairs further into the vile crevice where she expected scum and villainy to hide. Nevertheless, it was here that she planned to find a way off the planet. Bounties on her head had enticed plenty of bloodthirsty bounty hunters to come after her and a place like Savareen was crawling with them.

Stepping deeper into the room she found exactly what she expected: the dark corners filled with shady Zygerrians and their clients (who they talked to slowly and enthusiastically) never too shy to make contact and order them another drink. At the tables, games of Sabacc and Rodian smugglers grumbling. One of the games quickly ended as the Gamorean player gave his opponent a meaty wallop to the temple and an irritated squeal. The Woman quickly found herself more at home with the idlers at the bar. They were closer to the only form of order in the room, a bartenders ability to cut someone off was a surprisingly effective deterrent for any potential trouble maker. Briskly she made her way past the table of Duro's who stared her down with pupilless eyes. The bartender took his time getting to her, and as he did she spoke to him before he could even ask her what she'd want.

"A captain's special. I tip good, so don't water it down" she spoke quickly, sliding a bundle of credits towards the man. He gave her a slow look-over before taking the credits and nodding.

She had never been much of a drinker. Truthfully the phrase was a code she had learned from her brief time in a Nal Hutta refugee center. A captain special was a request for a pilot and ship. Her tipping good meant she'd pay a high price. Now she only had to hope someone understood as the bartender brought her a glass of phattro which she looked down at eagerly. The barren waste's dry air had left her parched after all.

Searching around the bar once more, she noticed several more pairs of eyes on her. As she picked up her glass and sipped on the red drink, an armored Trandoshan entered with a heavy blaster rifle. She watched as he was motioned over to the table of Duros. Once he was within earshot of the red-eyed aliens, they began to point subtly in her direction, speaking in hushed tones. Slowly the woman reached into her cloak and at her hip, she grabbed a lightsaber to prepare for her possible retreat. She was a sitting duck in a place like this, but she was out of options. Not knowing who she could trust or where else to go, she had no choice but to wait and hope that the Force was with her.

Kael hissed as the bitter Jawa Juice burned an icy trail down his throat. Fortunately this was the non-alcoholic variant of the beverage, which wouldn't compromise his ability to control his cybernetic arm. Truth be told, he had been amazed to find it available in this hive of scum and villainy. Savareen was one of those backwater systems that inevitably became a haven for those who don't wish to be found. And as of two years ago, Kael begrudgingly found himself counted among them.

He scowled at the surrounding patrons of the cantina, thugs, smugglers, bounty hunters, and worse. But the crowd did lack the presence of one element, there wasn't a damned clone in sight. Their armor may have been upgraded, and they might be called "stormtroopers" now, but they'd proved in the end that they were little better than the clankers they'd been engineered to fight against. They were tools of the Sith now, Emperor Palpatine and the traitor, Anakin Skywalker, now calling himself Darth Vader.

Kael was about to take another swig of his Jawa Juice when he froze. He sensed something...a presence...the sort of presence he'd come to feel less and less in the past two years. He slowly set down his glass and searched the room with his eyes, at the same time reaching out through the Force. His gaze passed over the Sabacc game that had just devolved into a fistfight, the Zygerrian slave-dealers ordering another round for their prospective clients, and a table of Duros huddled around a datapad. Finally, he spotted a lavender-skinned Twi'lek woman sitting at the bar, drinking a glass of what he guessed to be phattro. A hooded, brown cloak might not necessarily raise eyebrows out on the edges of the galaxy, but when coupled with what Kael could sense about this woman, there could be no mistake.

From his table in a dark corner of the cantina, he watched as she looked around the room. When she suddenly stopped and turned back to face the bar, he followed where her eyes had been and saw an armored Trandoshan carrying a heavy blaster looking in her direction. Kael recognized the brute, he was a bounty hunter named Gornn.

As Gornn started away from the Duros, towards the bar, Kael abandoned his cup of Jawa Juice and made his way to intercept.

"And just what do you think you're up to Gornn?" Kael asked, stopping directly in the path of the Trandoshan bounty hunter.

"Outta my way cyborg!" Gornn hissed. "That Jedi is mine!"

"Fat chance blaster-brain," said Kael, ignoring the angry snarl that followed his insult.

"You think just because you've killed a few Jedi and collected a few lightsabers that every Jedi bounty belongs to you?!" Gornn demanded.

"And here I thought you were as dumb as you looked," Kael confirmed, soliciting another angry snarl from Gornn before he stepped back and raised his blaster.

"She's mine Xaron!" Gorrn proclaimed. "So step aside before I-"

Gornn's threat was cut short by the SNAP-HISS of the sapphire lightsaber Kael ignited. Without a moment's hesitation, the glowing blue blade flashed through the air, carving a diagonal path from the Trandoshan's hip to his shoulder. Gornn's blaster clattered to the floor in two pieces, followed by Gornn...also in two pieces.

Kael extinguished his master's old lightsaber and hooked it back onto his belt, before turning to the Twi'lek and grabbing her by one of her lekku. He knew that grabbing a Twi'lek by the lekku was excruciatingly painful, and he hoped the woman would forgive him once he had a chance to explain himself, but for now there was no time. If he didn't "claim his prize" some of the other patrons might begin to think they could do better than Gornn.

"Let's go, Jedi." Kael ordered.

Bala turned from her drink when she felt a shiver down her spine alerting her to the presence behind her. The man's attention was focused on the Trandoshan, but she could sense that the Force was strong with him. She was glad to have a common enemy, it gave her an ally for the time being. Rather than intervein, she merely stood up and watched cautiously should they decide it was better to split the reward.

It took no time for her savior to deal with the hunter. She studied the movement of his blade, it was like rushing water: a perfect strong that had been well determined. No foolish bounty hunter could ever mimic the trained technique of a jedi. She admired the way he had stepped in and kept his arm close to the body the make his swing fast. As the lizard fell to the ground in pieces, Bala quickly moved closer to the other man. She had predicted his new words.
"Let's go, Jedi"

Bala looked around to see the other customers in the barroom returned to their own biddings. The music began to play once more, and drinks returned to being poured. No words were even muttered for the bounty hunter that lay dead before them all. Bala stepped away from the mess as a Chadra-fan began weaseling his fingers into pockets, and satisfied by the hand full of credits he found, the small creature rushed off to the bar to spend it away.

Bala hardly had a chance to respond to the man before a horrible, sharp pain and a hard tug had her following him without a choice. It had stung worse than an electrostaff. She couldn't help but let out a sharp groan of pain as she struggled to catch her balance while being practically dragged away. A stifled laugh from the Zygerrian and his Kubaz client. She closed her eyes as she felt the worse part of the situation: the embarrassment. How quickly she had allowed the man to take her away in such a manner.

As they reached the exit, she sent a swift kick with the ball of her foot to the soft area his side, under his ribs. As she did, she let out a pitiful shout as she pulled away from him.
"Let go of me, you Fragging Moof-drinker!"

As she held her aching lekku, she looked at him much less enthusiastically, now in disappointment. Begrudgingly she continued walking. As unruly as he may be, she felt much safer with him. He had stood up for her before, and with it made apparent that a jedi was in town, she didn't want to wait around in the Cantina anyway, and so reluctantly she crept along with him.
"Who are you? Where did you get that lightsaber?" She asked in a snarl, her face twisted in anger, her own sharp teeth bared at him like a beast.
"Jedi or not, you do not treat a lady like that!" she continued, roaring in ferverous rage.